The Bloodied Thirty Pieces

16 - Bluebirds Fly

Yang and Blake shared a horrified look as the Bumblebee pair ran to the open side of the bullhead and looked down.

"Did Vomit boy just-?"

"Yep."

Behind the two girls Ozpin chuckled as he grabbed one of the handrails and leaned out with the girls to watch the blonde knight. The chuckle died in the headmaster's throat as he took in the sight below. Team CRDL huddled around Weiss while Jaune stood between them and the person that had attacked and killed his students; the same person he had personally interviewed and invited to his school, the person he had promised he would take care of to her uncle and father, and failed. Despite Jaune's words Ozpin still found it hard to believe that the same 15 year old girl he had watched and buried was the one standing on the red grassy field below.

Ozpin closed his eyes and looked away, he couldn't bear the sight of another of his mistakes.

The air between Ruby and Jaune was thick enough with tension it could be cut with a knife. Neither spoke as they stared each other down, both with hard murderous eyes laced with anguish and pain; memories played in their heads over and over and they tried to harden their hearts to them as they both thought of the sins and crimes against them but lamented that is had come to them, the closest of friends, fighting as bitter enemies.

The difference between the two was as obvious as the red landscape around them. Jaune, tall and lanky, armed with a family hand-me-down of a sword and shield with little skill in their use or combat as a whole, graded the worst fighter in the first year against Ruby, short and petite with a massive custom made high-grade scythe and high-impact anti-material rifle combination taught by one of the best Huntsmen of the kingdoms and graded as possibly the second or third best fighter of the first year.

Yet Ruby was worn from her previous fights. Her black clothes were cut and torn showing still-forming bruises, welts and small cuts while a large gash to her shoulder covered her arm and hand in blood. Underneath all the new damage Ruby's body was covered in badly-healed burn scar-tissue, her right eye was dead and sightless and her arm was a horrid sight of blackened skin and badly-healed scars it was questionable how she could even use it let alone fight with her massive weapon.

Jaune on the other hand was fresh with no signs of injury or damage. He may of not been the best fighter of the school, but right now he had a pretty good feeling he and Ruby were pretty close in combat prowess.

It was clear that neither of them wanted to do this, to fight each other but neither would back down either. Letting go of the breath he was holding Jaune lowered his weapons.

"Ruby, please, stop." the blonde knight begged, trying to find the young girl who had befriend him, encouraged him and noped him in the hard cruel and anguished eyes. "Please just, stop."

"I can't stop Jaune. They betrayed me and left me for dead. They deserve to die for what they did to me, for what they did to you and Yang and everyone else." Ruby said with a harsh yet sad tone. The young girl raised her weapon and dropped into a combat ready stance, eye locked on the blonde before her. Jaune knew that words were a wasted thing now and closed his eyes. Images and memories of Pyrrha flooded his mind, they way her green eyes sparkled when she stared at him, the way her hair caught the sun, her laugh.

Jaune snapped his eyes open and raised his sword and shield. "What you have done Ruby is a thousand times worse then anything you think they have done to you!"

Ruby's eyes widened in shock at the words, then narrowed dangerously so as she charged. Jaune caught the strike with his shield and pushed back, before dropping the shield and swinging at Ruby with his sword. Ruby dodged the attack and stepped back, raising her scythe to bring down at the blonde's head. Jaune again caught the scythe with his shield, but the weight drove him to one knee. Jaune tried to push the massive weapon aside but he felt Ruby pushing down with all her might.